Natural language processing applications in library and information science
| Date | 12 August 2019 |
| Published date | 12 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-07-2018-0217 |
| Pages | 676-690 |
| Author | Zehra Taskin,Umut Al |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Natural language processing
applications in library and
information science
Zehra Taskin and Umut Al
Department of Information Management, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Abstract
Purpose –With the recent developments in information technologies, natural language processing (NLP)
practices have made tasks in many areas easier and more practical. Nowadays, especially when big data
are used in most research, NLP provides fast and easy methods for processing these data. The purpose of
this paper is to ident ify subfields of library and infor mation science (LIS) where NLP ca n be used and to
provide a guide based on bibliometrics and social network analyses for researchers who intend to study
this subject.
Design/methodology/approach –Within the scope of this study, 6,607 publications, including NLP
methods published in the field of LIS, are examined and visualized by social network analysis methods.
Findings –After evaluating the obtained results, the subject categories of publications, frequently used
keywords in these publications and the relationships between these words are revealed. Finally, the core
journals and articles are classified thematically for researchers working in the field of LIS and planning to
apply NLP in their research.
Originality/value –The results of this paper draw a general framework for LIS field and guides researchers
on new techniques that may be useful in the field.
Keywords Social network analysis, Bibliometrics, Library and information science, Citespace, VOSviewer,
Natural language processing
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Natural language processing (NLP) is a process of understanding how texts, speeches and
similar materials are used by computerized systems and how they are operated on computers
(Chowdhury, 2003, p. 51). The Oxford Dictionary defines NLP as “the application of
computational techniques to the analysis and synthesis of natural language and speech”
(Natural Language Processing, 2017). The main goal of these applications is to realize a
human-like language processing for several tasks or applications and to analyze the generated
texts with computational techniques (Liddy, 2010, p. 3864). With similar applications, detailed
linguistic analyses are possible, and large texts can easily be analyzed.
Although NLP approaches were initially applied for endangered languages to prevent their
extinction, these approaches have been recently used in many studies to organize and make
sense of big data. Currently, it would be more difficult and time-consuming to work without
NLP many fields, including marketing, information validation and information retrieval or
visualization. The main aim of this study is to provide information about the main stages of
NLP applications and to provide a detailed bibliometric approach on the literature about NLP
published in the field of library and information science (LIS). In this respect, potential su bjects,
which can employ different NLP methods, can be revealed, and ideas about future trends can
be obtained. The main research questions are as follows:
RQ1. What are the main NLP applications used in LIS literature? What is the historical
evolution of NLP subjects?
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 4, 2019
pp. 676-690
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-07-2018-0217
Received 13 July 2018
Revised 14 November 2018
Accepted 15 January 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This paper was supported in part by a research grant from the Turkish Scientific and Technological
Research Center (115K440).
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OIR
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